Maggie Smith has died at the age of 89, her family has confirmed. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mrs Maggie Smith,” her two sons, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, wrote in a statement. “She died peacefully in hospital on the morning of Friday, September 27. She was a very private person and spent her last days with friends and family. She leaves behind two sons and five beloved grandchildren who are in mourning over her passing. Their exceptional mother and grandmother are devastated.
Smith won two Academy Awards during her illustrious career — 1970’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and 1979’s “Californication” — in addition to four more Oscar nominations, not to mention a five-time Bafta winner. But before she was a star of awards season, Smith was a stellar British talent making a name for herself on London’s West End stage. The Essex-born actor began her career studying viola in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the Oxford Theatre. It was the start of her decades-long romance with the Bard: She played Desdemona in Othello (and received her first Oscar nomination for her performance in the 1965 film adaptation), and she appeared on stage, starring as Queen Elizabeth, Lady Macbeth, and Cleopatra in The Last of Us in the late 1970s.
But by no means are all of her works dramatic classics. Smith has starred in comedies, Merchant Ivory classics and commercial films like the Harry Potter series, not to mention some serious ’90s classics including “The First Wives Club” and “Sister Act.” During her 70 years in the spotlight, there was no genre she failed to conquer, no emotion she failed to capture.
Here are 20 vintage photos of the beloved Maggie Smith as a rising star. Actress Maggie Smith poses with her hand on her hat on August 27, 1957. Room movie “Nowhere to Go”. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) English actress Maggie Smith at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, London, January 25, 1962. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) English actress Maggie Smith, circa 1963. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images) Actress Maggie Smith is pictured on a railway station platform as she waits for a train from London to Newcastle upon Tyne to rehearse with Sir Laurence Olivier for the National Theatre’s production of Othello (which will take place in Birmingham), March 24, 1964. (Photo by Young/Mirrorpix/Getty Images) Othello, Maggie Smith, 1965 ROME, ITALY – 1966: English actress Maggie Smith as Sara Watkins on the set of the film ‘The Honey Pot’ at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, Italy, circa 1966. (Photo by Martin Mills/Getty Images) Maggie Smith on the set of Oh! What a Lovely War, directed by Richard Attenborough (this was his directorial debut). Maggie Smith plays a music hall star. March 1968. Her desk in a scene from the 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jane Brodie.” © Galella Collection via Getty Images) Maggie Smith is surprised by a scene from the 1972 film Travels With My Aunt. C enjoys a day by the pool at her rental home in Malibu. (Photo by John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images) British actor Michael Caine (played by Oris Joseph Micklewhite) places a bracelet on British actress Maggie Smith’s wrist in the film “California Suite.” United States, 1978. From: Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, 1985. ©Cinecom/Everett Collection Director Franco Zeffirelli with the stars of his latest film Tea With Mussolini at the Royal Premiere in London. From left: Lily Tomlin, Dame Judi Dench, Franco Zeffirelli, Dame Maggie Smith and Cher. (Photo by Michael Stephens – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
